1a: The aim of this project is to investigate how donor characteristics influence
the properties of their blood. Hematopoietic progenitor cells, stem cells
derived from blood/bone marrow, are used therapeutically to treat blood
cancer by rescuing or replacing the stem cells of the patient. They are isolated
using centrifugation, a process that separates blood into three gradients
according to density, one of which – the ‘buffy coat’ – contains stem cells.
Human beings are inherently variable due to biological, physical and social
parameters, and this will affect the physical composition of the blood, and the
process required to separate out specific components.
1b: Due to its size, UK Biobank has sufficient breadth of participant and bloodbased
characteristics to provide statistical confidence in any associations
found. A greater understanding of the interaction between donor and donation will inform our understanding of how blood fractionates, which in
turn would improve isolation techniques for therapeutic application of blood
products. Additionally this will act as a blood-based case study that will inform
work on future cellular therapies.
1c: The aims of this research is to retrospectively examine and analyse the
baseline statistical data from the full cohort of UK Biobank to firstly quantify
the variation of certain donor and blood metrics in the population, and
secondly to determine relationships between donor metrics and the properties
of their blood. This will enable us to understand the variation in the specific
blood components used for cellular therapies and how donor characteristics
affect these components.
1d: Baseline statistical data from the full cohort of UK Biobank.